Synchronous transmitter



B. S. MCCUTCHEN AND H. E. WILLIAMS.

SYNCHRONOUS TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I0, 1919.

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SYNCHRONOUS TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10, 1919.

1,377,844, Patented' May 10, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

BBUNSON S. MOCUTCHEN, OF

THE UNITED STATES ARMY,

0F GARTHAGE, MISSOURI.

SYNCHBONOUS TRANSMITTER.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Application led September 10, 1919. Serial No. 322,993. (FILED UNDER THE ACT 0F MARGH 3, 1883, 22 STAT. L., 625.)

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, BRUNsoN S. Mo- CUTCHEN, United States Army, a citizen of the United States, stationed at Washington, D. C., and HAROLD E. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Carthage, lcounty of Jasper, and State of Missouri, have invented an Improvement in Synchronous Transmitters, of which the following is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government or any of its ofiicers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government or by any other person in the United States, without payment of any ro alty thereon.

he object of our invention is to provide a novel device for duplicating and indicating the motion of a remote rotating body, and the invention is particularly concerned with the provision of such a device which will be simple in construction, practical to manufacture, and thoroughly reliable'and efficient in operation.

The accompanying drawings disclose an exemplary embodiment of the underlying principles of the invention. Briefiy described Figure 1 is a front elevation of a preferred form of the device of our invention, the dial-plate being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation thereof, the dial-plate being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation of a somewhat modified form of our invention, the dial-plate being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 3, the dial-plate removed; and.

Fig. 5 is a diagram of the electric circuits for both forms of our invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings 1 designates a shaft rotatabl supported in suitable bearings (not shown.

An arm 2 is fast, at one end, on said shaft and loosely carries, at its other end, a rotatable pinion 3.

Also loosely supported on said shaft 1 is a pair of beveled Agears 4, 4 meshing with the pinion 3.

The beveled gears are secured to4 or are integral with ratchet-wheels 5, 5, the teeth of which are reversely or oppositely out, so

AND HAROLD E. WILLIAMS,

May 1o, 19,21.

that the 4ratchet-wheels are reversely rotatable. The ratchet-wheels 5, with hubs 6, 6 loose on shaft 1. Wound on- 1n opposite directions, are cables said hubs,

7 carrying, at their lower j Carried fast on the shaft coperating with a 5, are provided ends, weights 1 is a pointer 9,

stationary calibrated dial-plate 10 carried by a bracket or stationar support (not shown).

pivot-pin 12 ner. Each of points removed the rockers upward projecting fingers 13,

supported in any suitable manis provided, at

from the ends thereof, with 14 coperating with the adjacent ratchet-wheel 5. Carried by one end of each rocker is an armature 15 attracted by an electro-magnet 16 disposed therebeneath. A coil spring 17 Asecured to the other end of each rocker 1l, maintains 1t in an inclined position, out of contact with the with its armature magnet when the latter is not energized, and with the finger 13 1n engagement with ratchet-wheel and with the out of contact therewith.

the teeth of the other finger 14C The electro-magnets are included in electric circuits, a diagram of which is shown in F 5, in which 17', 17 are switches controlling the electric 'circuits through the electro-magnets.

The transmitting device switches 17, 17

con trolling the is disclosed in another application for patent filed November 2, 1918, Serial No. 260,870, and forms no part of the present invention.

The operation is as follows Assuming that the mechanism of the transmitter causes the switch 17 to close against the contact of conductor A, rent flows from the battery 16, causing its armature 15 the electric curthrough magnet to be attracted,

moving rocker 11 and disengaging the finger 13 from the tooth of the ratchet-wheel 5 and permitting the ratchet-wheel to turn under the influence of the anti-clockwise direction, tance of half of a tooth pit having thereupon moved in for weight 8, in an the angular disch, the finger 14 contact with the ratchet-wheel, thereby arresting the move ment thereof. When the s witch is opened,

the contacts between 17 and 18 are-broken. The spring 17 ulls the rocker 11 and armature 15 carrier thereby back to their original position, thereby removing the finger 14 from contact with the ratchet-wheel, permitting the ratchet-wheel to turn one-half` of a tooth pitch and bringing the finger 13 into engagement with the ratchet-wheel to arrest the movement thereof. Thus, forl eve make and break of the electric circuit, the ratchet-wheel is released for an instant, and the force of the weight 8 operating through the cable 7 on the ratchet-wheel turns the latter one tooth pitch in an anticlockwise direction, whereupon it is locked, awaiting the next electrical impulse.

To move the other ratchet-wheel in the reverse direction, i. e., in a clockwise direction, the transmitter throws the other switch against contact 1.8.

By the construction described, it will be seen that the ratchet-wheels are reversely movable, z'. e., one thereof moves in a clockwise direction and the other moves in an anti-clockwise direction, and that the ratchet-wheels are independently ,.movable, and do not rotate in unison, oi' simultaneously.

The movement of arm 2 is the algebraic sum of the movements of the wheels 4, 4. Otherwise expressed, gears 3, 4, 4 resolve the two opposite angular motions of the two ratchet-wheels 5, 5 into a single angular motion of arm 2, which is an accurate counterpart of the remote mechanism or body.

Vhile we have described the weights 8 and the cables 7 as the means for moving the ratchet-wheels when released by the escapement mechanism, it will be understood that any other means to supply torque to the ratchet-wheels, in opposite directions, may be used.

Referring, now in detail to Figs. 3 and 4, showing a somewhat modified construction, it will be seen that this type of mechanism differs from the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, principally in the fact that, in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the magnets supply energy to operate an escapement device only, releasing the ratchet-wheels, which are supplied with an independent source of power to cause them to move; while, in the form disclosed in Figs. 3 and 4, the magnets themselves supply the source of power not only to release the wheels, but to also cause them to move.

Substantially the same type of differential gear system is used in both cases. In Figs. 3 and 4, 19, 19 designate spur or cog wheels loosely supported on the shaft 19', rotatably supported in suitable bearings in the upper ends of standards 20, 2() on a base or bed 21. The cog wheels mesh with pinions 22 rigidly supported on a pin 23 -rotatably carried at the upper end of an arm 24 secured, at its other end, to the shaft 19` so as to rotate therewith. The cog wheels 19, 19 are integral With ratchet-wheels 25, 25 provided with hubs 26, 26 encircliii the shaft 19. The teeth of the ratcheteels are reversel cut, similarly to the ratchet-wheels of the evice of Figs. 1 and 2.

Coperating with each ratchet-wheel 25 .the ratchet-wheel 25 and disposed in a circular series' on the outside face of the wheel near the edge thereof. The number of pins equal the number of teeth in the wheel and are equally spaced. When the pawls 27, 28, are in normal ositioii, the operative or upper end of the nger 31 projects into the path of movement of the pins 33 and prevents the wheel 25 from turning more than one-half a tooth itch. Likewise, if the rocker 29 is moved I dmnormalfpostitiomfthe iin er 32 is rocked into the path of pins 33.

ecured, at one end thereof, to one end of the rocker 29is an arm 34 carrying, at its other end, an armature 35 normally disposed out of contact with an electro-magnet 36 included in an electric circuit, such as has been described in connection with the device of Figs. 1 and 2. The armature is normally maintained out of contact with. the magnet by a coil spring 37, as shown.

Each of the ratchet-wheels is peripherally engaged by a roller 39 rotatably supported at one end of a leaf-spring 40, secured, at its other end, to the bed 21. The rollers and springs act as brakes or drags on the ratchet-wheels.

In operation, when the magnet 36 is energized by a flow of electric current through its windings, the armature 35 is attracted moving the rocker 29 on its pivot and causing the'pawl 27 to move downward carrying the wheel 25 with it for an angular distance for one-half a tooth pitch. Simultaneously, the pawl 28 moves upward, and, at its limit of upward movement, it engages with thel tooth which has moved one-half way to meet it. As soon as the electric current has ceased to iiow through the magnet 36, the armature 35 is elevated to its original position by the spring 37. This action causes the rocker to assume its original position, lifting the pawl 27, which, at its' extreme high position, engages with the next advancing tooth of the ratchetwheel 25. Simultaneously, the pawl 28 has been caused to move downward, carrying the wheel 25 for the angular distance of onehalf a tooth pitch. It is thus evident that, for every electrical impulse sent through the circuit of which the electro-magnet 36 is a part, the ratchet-wheel 25 is caused to move for an an ular distance of one complete tooth pitch. T e advantage of using two pawls instead of a single pawl to move the wheel 25 is that the amplltude of movement of the armature 35 need be just one-half of what it would be if only one pawl were used. This construction is very desirable, because it tends to increase the speed at which .the mechanism will operate. It also makes it possible to operate the mechanism with less magnet strength, due to the fact that attraction for the armature varies as the square of the distance, and, since the amplitude of its movement is only one-half as great, its initial distance from the magnet need be only one-half as great.

The function of the ngers 31 and 32 is to lock the wheel 25 when the pawls 27 and 28 are at rest and prevent the wheel from over-running when the pawls are in either of their extreme positions.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a device for duplicating and indicating the motion of a remote rotating body, the combination with a pair of reversel and independently rotatable ratchet-whee s, of a rotatable shaft upon which said ratchetwheels are loosely mounted, a pair of reversely and inde endently rotatable gearwheels also loose y mounted on said shaft and each movable with its complemental ratchet-wheel, means controlled by the rotation of said gear-wheels for rotating said shaft, and electrically-controlled mechanism for rotating said ratchet-wheels.

2. In a device for duplicating and indicating the motion of a remote rotating body, the combination' with a pair of reversely and independently rotatable ratchet-wheels, of a rotatable shaft upon which said ratchetwheels are loosely mounted, a pair of reversely and inde endently rotatable gearwheels also loose y mounted on said shaft and each movable with its complemental ratchet-wheel, a member fast on said shaft and carrying revoluble means meshing with said gear-w eels, and electrically-controlled mechanism for rotating said ratchetwheels.

3. In a device for duplicating and indicating the motion of a remote rotating body, the combination with a pair of reversely and independently rotatable ratchet-wheels, of a rotatable shaft upon which said ratchetwheels are loosely mounted, a pair of reversely and independently rotatable gearwheels also loosely mounted on said shaft and each movable with its complemental ratchet-wheel, an arm fast, at one end thereof, on said shaft and carrying, at its other end, revoluble means meshing with said gearwheels, and electrically-controlled mechamsm for rotatin said ratchet-wheels.

4. In a device or duplicating and indicating the motion of a remote rotating body, the combination with a pair of reversely and independently rotatable ratchet-wheels, of a rotatable shaft upon which said ratchetwheels are loosely mounted, a pair of reversely and inde endently rotatable gearwheels also looselry mounted on said shaft and each movable with its complemental ratchet-wheel, an arm fast, at one end thereof, on said shaft and carrying, at its other end, a inion meshing with said gear-wheels, and e ectrically-controlled mechanism for rotating said ratchet-wheels.

5. In a device for duplicating and indicating the motion of a remote rotating body the combination with a pair of reversely an independently rotatable ratchet-wheels, of a rotatable shaft upon which said ratchetwheels are loosely mounted, a pair of reversely and independently rotatable gearwheels also loosely mounted on said shaft and each movable with its complemental ratchet-wheel, a pointer carried by and revolving with said shaft, a dial-plate with which said pointer operates, means controlled by the rotation of said gear-wheels for rotatlng said shaft, and electrically-controlled mechanism for rotating said ratchetwheels.

6. In a device for duplicating and indicating the motion of a remote rotating body, the combination with a pair of reversely and independently rotatable ratchet-wheels, of a rotatable shaft upon which said ratchetwheels are loosely mounted, a pair of reversely and independently rotatable gearwheels also loosely mounted on said shaft and each movable with its complemental ratchet-wheel, means controlled by the rotation of said gear-wheels for rotating said shaft, electrlcally-controlled escapement mechanism for each of said ratchet-wheels, and means for rotating either of said ratchetwheels, upon movement of its escapement mechanism.

7. Ina device for duplicating and indicating the motion of a remote rotating body, the combination with a pair of reversely and independently rotatable ratchet-wheels, of a rotatable shaft upon which said ratchetwheels are loosely mounted, a pair of reversely and independently rotatable gearwheels also loosely mounted on said shaft and each movable with its complemental ratchet-wheel, and means controlled by the gear-wheels for indicating the movements of a remote rotating body and the algebraic ing the motiono a remote rotating body, the combination with a pair of reversely and independently rotatable ratchet Wheels, of a rotatable shaft upon Which said ratchet wheels are loosely mounted,` a pair of reversely and independently rotatable ear Wheels also loosely mounted on said s aft and integral with said ratchet Wheels, means controlled by the rotation of said gear Wheels for rotating said shaft and electri- 10 cally controlled mechanism for rotating said ratchet Wheels.

BRUNSON S. MCCUTCHEN. HAROLD E. WILLIAMS. 

